Runelore: A Handbook of Esoteric Runology

by Edred Thorsson

This one maybe a little too complicated for the beginner. But the true Vitki will love this one i bet. There is nothing satanic in this book as a few others have claimed. This book goes into the rune and gives you the inner vision of the power of each rune. This is a great companion to his other book Futhark. Both are great and accurate. Edred Thorsson is a true master of his craft.

From Amazon.com

Great

This book is divided in two parts. First part, Historical Lore, presents a history of the runes in a more realistic, scientific view using examples form archaeology to support certain hypothesis of how the runes where invented (examples of runic writing with explanations are found throughout the book especially in the first part). The first 5 chapters of the book are chronologically organised and present the rune evolution from the oldest findings to the most recent ones (modern age actually). Chapters 6, 7, 8 try to explain the utility of runes for the old norse (or for other civilisations who took the runes from the old Norse) and also give written examples which try to explain the runes. Especially useful are chapters 6 and 7, which try to explain the runes and the runic inscriptions. The second part, Hidden Lore, uses a philosophical and psychological approach to explain the runes. Chapter 9 is especially useful and probably the most important chapter within the book because here all the runes are explained in great detail (beginning with page 114 and ending with 141 is a very essence of the book). Chapters 10 is also useful because it shows the cosmological view of the Old Norse and the connection with the runes (24 pathways between the 9 worlds, 24 runes). Chapters 11, 12 display even more information about the runes and the way of thinking of the Old Norse. The last chapter, 13, has a nice description of the gods of the old Norse but this chapter lacks the great detail which is found in the other chapter (this last chapter give some helpful hints but is more like a conclusion of the book, the good ending). This book is pretty good, and that's why I gave it 5 stars but in truth it deserved 4 stars because it lacks the really deep explanations of the Old Norse's way of thinking.